English lit lite in this uninvolving romance from LaBute, based on the 1990 novel by A.S. Byatt. Brash and scruffy (doesn't the man own a razor?) American scholar Roland Michell (Eckhart) finds letters from 19th-century poet Randolph Henry Ash (Northam)--possibly to feminist poet Christabel LaMotte (Ehle). Michell hooks up with repressed Brit scholar Maud Bailey (bun-wearing Paltrow), an expert on Christabel, to investigate the connection. They discover the married Ash and LaMotte had a brief, passionate affair that changed their lives. The modern-day duo are too wary to get involved the same way--at least at first. Looks beautiful but is utterly predictable.